Apple is expected to unveil its Mac OS X 10.7 operating system at a press
conference on Oct 20

Apple is holding a special event on Oct 20, when the company is widely expected to unveil the latest version of its OS X operating system.

The company sent invites showing a picture of a lion and the slogan “Back to Mac” to select journalists and analysts. It has lead to speculation that Apple will use the event to launch a new range of Mac computers, and give details of the next iteration of its OS X operating system.

Apple traditionally names is OS X products after big cats, and 10.7, the successor to OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, is expected to be called Lion.

The company could also use the event to show off a new model of its popular MacBook Air computer, as well as new versions of iLife and iWork, Apple’s productivity and media suites, comprised of programs such as Keynote and iPhoto.

Mac OS X 10.7 is unlikely to hit shops until next summer. Apple is expected to use next June’s Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco to reveal more details about the platform, and confirm a ship date.

Tim Bajarin, a principal analyst with consulting firm Creative Strategies, believes Apple could be looking to more closely integrate some aspects of iOS, its mobile operating system, and OS X, such as FaceTime video calling.

“Making FaceTime work with iChat would be a logical guess,” he said.

Apple’s OS X products enjoy a 10 per cent share of the computer market, which continues to be dominated by Microsoft’s Windows operating system.